(FORTUNE Magazine) – The tide in what appeared to be a jobless recovery has turned. Companies will be hiring more in the first quarter of 1995 than in any first quarter in six years, according to a survey of 15,000 businesses by temporary employment agency Manpower Inc.Manufacturers haven't planned to hire so many in 15 years. Some 22% of 1,900 small companies polled in November by the National Federation of Independent Business report unfilled job openings. The unemployment rate, at 5.6%, is the lowest since 1990. In certain areas, including the South and the Midwest, finding workers can be tough. Take Step2, a manufacturer of children's and garden products in Streetsboro, Ohio. Though the company went from three employees at its founding in 1991 to 800 now, president Tom Murdough would have liked to add 100 more. Says he: "We've left $10 million on the table this year because of our inability to staff our plants to meet demand." In Bowling Green, Kentucky, James River and International Paper plants can't fill vacancies that have been advertised for months; the area's unemployment rate is 3.1%. Manufacturers of durable goods -- autos, appliances, and computers, for example -- are and will be hiring. Ford Motor added 3,000 hourly employees this year. Chrysler has started staffing 6,000 positions it will create over this year and the next two. Even executives in construction and retail, industries that shed jobs after the Christmas months, predict small net employment gains come spring. Industries still under the ax include telecommunications, aerospace, and utilities. But overall, layoffs announced at big companies are down 16% from last year, according to outplacement firm Challenger Gray & Christmas. Says John Challenger: "Now we're seeing small cuts. Companies just make reengineering part of their yearly strategy, and take swift action on underperforming units, overly bureaucratic departments, and underachieving employees."

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